Team Knockout

Shifnal B v Anstice A

Both sides of scratch, this looked like it was going to be a tight affair, but in the very first frame Neil price for the Anstice put his side well in front, against L Knox, Neil produced some great safety to give himself an early lead, then midway through the frame, he knocked in a fantastic 54 break, to heap the pressure on the Shifnal man, Neil finally winning 100-11, frame 2 I Duffy v A Sparkes, and the last time these two met, it was Aarron who took the honours, this proved to be a much more tight affair, some great snooker from both players, and they showed each other great respect throughout the frame, which Aarron took 63-51, in the next A Way v C Reynolds, with Angus taking command early on, with some fantastic long pots, and unusually for Craig, he didn’t take advantage of some of the opportunities that he created, Angus looked like pulling the whole points deficit back at one stage, but Craig dug in and found some of his old form, to reduce the huge deficit he faced, eventually losing 45-78. frame 4 was also a tight affair as K Price played J Fallows, both players in superb form this season, this time it was the Anstice man who took the lead early on, potting with some aplomb, John responded with some of his own, to keep the frame tight, with the last 3 colours remaining, Keith saw his attempt at the blue hang over the middle bag, leaving John to clear up the remaining colours and win 48-47, putting Matt Davies 43 behind going into the last, facing Shaun Harris, who entered the room with his wheelbarrow full of winnings from Cheltenham, not his own I might add !!. The frame started cautiously, both players knowing the importance of it, Shaun struck first, but was unlucky, when running out of position on 16, Matt then played some great snooker, combining potting, with some superb safety, putting the pressure on his opponent, going down to the colours, the pressure was showing on both players, when Shaun tried to escape from a safety on the brown, he saw the brown lay over the corner bag, and being 38 behind, he must of feared the worst, unfortunately for the Shifnal man, his attempt at the brown, saw the white go in off, Shaun duly cleared up to the pink to put the Anstice Side into another final, well done!, my thanks to the match official Frank Williams, who did a superb job on the evening, and also to the Sir John Bayley Club for letting us host the match.

Audco C v Hadley B

Frame 1
Mick Pink on for the Audco lads and quickly stamped his authority on the frame with chance number 1, going 30 points ahead. Mick had 2 more great chances to go further ahead but failed to capitalise and back came John Wright for Hadley with some equally good potting to eventually lose the frame by only 5 points, meaning the initial handicap to Hadley of 90 was now 85.

Frame 2
Second on for Audco, Roger Lewis and on for Hadley, Dave Smout and Roger in the form he has been in must have fancied his chances of clawing back a few, especially when the frame was opened up early on. After a succession of missed pots by both players, it was Roger who eventually snuck the frame by 7 points but the Hadley lads were relieved at this with Dave hanging on with some great safety play, Hadley going into the 3rd frame 78 points ahead.

Frame 3
Paul Proctor took on the in-form Ken Booty which to date has had a great season. Paul never missed much all night and proved too hot to handle for Ken and with the colours still on the table had already pulled back 45 points of the deficit. Ken dug in and after taking the pink and black, eventually lost the frame by 36 points to leave the Hadley boys only 42 points up with 2 frames to go.

Frame 4
Anthony Heathcote took on Darren Pountney in what was to be the turning point of the match, defending the 42 point lead, Darren quickly got out of the blocks and found himself 60 points to 1 up and pushing his team ever closer to the finals. Anthony battled back well to eventually lose the frame 99 points to 28 and leave Audco C 113 points down in the last.

Frame 5
Going through the motions in the last frame, John Williams potted against Kev Whitehead but found the 113 deficit too many to pull back, Kev Whitehead making the most of the few chances he had to ensure the defeat was minimal, losing by 12 points and ensuring Hadley a safe passage to the final and a possible league and cup double.

My thanks to John Jones, match official and also to the Shifnal Club for hosting the match.

Consolation Cup

Shifnal A v Dawley C

With Shifnal having to concede 25 on the handicap, frame 1 R Davies v L Cross, both players started well, with some good pots and they remained evenly matched throughout, as highlighted by the final frame score 51-50, frame 2 C Bristow v J Mills, with Shifnal needing to reduce the deficit, Chris started off brightly with a couple of low scoring breaks to take an early lead, J Mills responded to reduce the gap, but Chris cleared the remaining balls, winning 49-32, frame 3 S Jones v S Cross, a frame of big potters, and yet again it was the Shifnal man who took the early lead, Steve played some great safety to keep his opponent at bay, taking the frame 69-31, putting the Shifnal side up overall, frame 4 M Wordsell v A Shaw, another show of great potting from both players, neither player allowing the other to stamp their mark on the frame, it was the Dawley chap who cleared to eventually win 55-46, leaving the Dawley Captain Chris Gifford having to pull back 23 to take the match, but he came up against a stubborn Ian Postains, in a frame which followed the trend of the evening, being very tight and nervy, Chris took the frame 57-55, but congratulations to the Shifnal lads on reaching their first ever final.

Bayley D (190) v Bayley B (120)

D Dudley v K West, frame 1 saw Kev start to reduce the lead of the D team with some vintage potting early on and restricted Dave to very few chances, taking the frame 59-16, the next saw Danny Oliver play M Beddall, Mark played some good snooker, but was unable to stop the in form Danny from taking it 76-31, frame 3 Craig Whitehead v D Beddall, this time is was Craig who followed up his good seasons form, with some fantastic potting and safety, putting his side back into contention winning 90-41, frame 4 saw another good young player Tom Mullholland face D Williams, with Tom maintaining his seasons good form, playing very well in what was a very tense frame, putting his side back in front, winning 64-30, this left another good young player, Craig Baugh facing one of the leagues veterans Jim Lewis, both players started the frame nervously, knowing its importance, in the end it was Craig who held his nerve the better, taking the frame 49-21, putting his side through to the final. My thanks to the Coddon Club and Mark wall for hosting the event, also to match official Steve Fletcher.

Nigel Stallard

Nigel.Stallard@telfordsnooker.com